Foot-guard.



P. A. STROMBERG.

FOOT GUARDl APPLICATION FILED APRQzo. 1917.

1 ,234,817. Patented July 31, 1917.

' INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

PETER A. lSTROIVIBJSJRGr, OF ROSEWOOD, MINNESOTA.

FOOT-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

Application filed April 20,v 1917. Serial No. 163,454.

T0 all whom z'may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER A. STROMBERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rosewood, in the county of Marshall and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Foot-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railway foot guards which are placed in between converging or contiguous rails of a railway track and has for its objects; first to provide an efficient means for preventing the accidental catching of the foot between the rails of arailway track; second, to provide a railway foot guard of a durable nature at a minimum expense; and thirdly, to provide means for eifectively securing a railway foot guard in position.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the converging rails of a railway switch to which a foot guard embodying my invention is attached,

Fig. 2 is a lateral -vertical section of Fig. 1 on the line 2 2,

Fig. 3 is a partial bottom plan view of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a view in oblique perspective of a lportion of my foot guard.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the various views.

In the drawings 1 designates a rail which converges with the rail 2 of a railroad track. B designates my foot guard attached thereto. The foot guard is made of galvanized iron or other suitable material of sufficient strength and which will resist rust. The body of said foot guard comprises top member 3, side members 4, a bottom member 5, and an end member 6. The sides, top, and bottom members are formed in one piece in the preferred embodiment of my invention, the longitudinal edges meeting on the top member, said edges being overlapped there on. Rivets 7 secure said edges together. The end member 6 has inturned edges and is secured to said body 3, side members 4 and bottom member 5 by means of rivets 9 engaging said top, bottom and side members and the inturned edges of end member 6. End member 6 is located at the outer or exposed end of the foot guard. It is not necessary to place an end member at the inner end ofthe foot guard because it is in a protected position. End member 6 serves to strengthen the foot guard because it is riveted to top, sides and bottom members as hereinbefore described. It also prevents a persons foot from being caught in the inclosure between the top, bottom and side members. Thus end member- 6 performs the double function of preventing a persons foot from getting caught in the inclosure at the outer end of the foot guard and by reason of its engagement with the top, bottom and side members of the foot guard renders the foot guard exceedingly strong at its outer end where it is subject to hard usage. The members 3, 4, 5, and 6 associated as described form the body of the foot guard.

In the bottom member 5 a longitudinal slots 9 is formed, the metal displaced in forming said slot being bent back on the longitudinal edges of said slot to stilfen the bottom member. A belt 10 projects down through said slot and has its head engaging the upper surface of bottom member 5, and its shank extends downwardly. A clamp bracket 11 is provided having a hole near its inner end adapted to engagesaid bolt 10. A nut 12 is screw threaded upon the shank of bolt 10, said bolt 10 and nut 12 serving to clamp bottom member 5 and the end o-f said clamp bracket 11 together. pin 13 engages a transverse hole in ythe end of the shank of bolt 10 and prevents nut 12 from unscrewing off said bolt.

The outer end of clamp bracket 1'1 is doubled over, said end overlying the main portion of the bracket. A hole is provided in the doubled-over end of said clamp bracket 11. Another hole in registry with the above mentioned hole is provided in the underlying portion of the clamp bracket 11. A bolt 14 engages said holes and a nut 15 is screw threaded upon the shank of said bolt whereby the said doubled-over end may be clamped down upon the underlying portion of said clamp bracket 11. The doubled-over end of clamp bracket 11 is so formed that the lower outer flange of a rail may be clamped between it and said underlying portion of the clamp bracket 11.

The side members 4 of the foot guard are formed so that they iit into the space bounded by the under surface of the upper flange of the rail, the side surface of the A cotter llO tioned under one oli' the rails so that theclamp on the outer end thereof properly engages the outer lower flange of one of the rails as designated in the drawings. The hole at the inner end of said clamp bracket 11 is then engaged with bolt 10 in slot 9 as hereinbefore described and the nut 12 screwed on a shank of said bolt whereby the clamp bracket is secured to the bottom member orP the foot guard. Cotter pin 18 is then inserted in the transverse hole on the end of a shank of said bolt 10. Bolt 14 is then inserted into the holes in the outer end of said clamp bracket and nut 15 screwed thereon whereby said *clamp bracket is firmly clamped to said rail. It will be noted that the upper surface of the lower flanges of the rails are slanted downwardly and outwardly, and the bottom being horizontal the clamp bracket 11 would have a tendency to loosen its grip upon said {iange by slipping outwardly. This is prevented by the engagement of one of the sides 4t with the inner side of the rail, which engagement is opposed to said outward tendency. For this reason the clamp bracket 11 should be applied so that it lies at substantially a right angle to the rail upon which it is clamped. The slot 9 is of utility where ties pass under and sup port the rails in proximity to the position of the foot guard. In such acase clamp bracket 11 may be adjusted to a position between the ties by reason of bolt l0 being adapted to slide in said slot.

Due to the fact that the foot guard is clamped to but one of the rails it cannot be loosened by the usual creeping of the rails.

And, by reason of the construction of theclamp the tendency of the foot guard to work out of its position only tightens the clamp bracket upon said rail.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. A device of the character described, comprising a body, a clamp bracket underlying said body and secured thereto, said bracket extending upwardly from said body and having a hole near the outer end thereof and having the outer end doubled-over and overlying the adjacent main portion of the bracket and having a hole formed in said doubled over end in registry with said first mentioned hole, and a bolt engaging said holes to clamp a rail liange between the bracket and the doubled over end thereof.

2. A device of the character described comprising a body having a longitudinal slot formed on the under side thereof, a clamp bracket having a hole near the outer end thereof and having said outer end doubled over and overlying the adjacent main portion of the bracket and having a hole in said doubled over end in registry with said first mentioned hole, means engaging said slot for securing said bracket to the body, and a bolt engaging said holes t0 clamp a rail flange between the clamped portion of the bracket and the doubled over end thereof. l

3. A device of the character described comprising a body having a top member,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

